Freakish Deviance

Tattoos started out as being a tribal rite of passage, a mark that would signify an association, but now the tattoo is commercialized, and it has become something that often suggests lost youth.  Some call it body art, body bling, self-graffiti, walking human billboards, or fashionable ink, but I don’t think that they are creative or edgy or trendy.  Some of them may be intriguing if they are well-placed, but I find most tattoos to be tacky.  Whatever your opinion is, tattoos will always be controversial, even if you accept them.

I am different from most people, as I do not wear jewelry, thus I don’t need or have any piercings and I never wanted to get a tattoo.  I don’t need a permanent mark on my body to voice my opinion about any issue that I feel strongly about.  I do not judge people by the color of their skin, but I do judge people by how many tattoos they have, so I guess I may be shallow, because I am not able to see beyond what is skin deep.  When I see a girl that is covered in ink, I think that she is probably an easy target for a man to take sexual advantage of.  She is definitely a party girl, she probably drinks a lot, she is having a lot of sex and possibly she had a rough childhood.  Face tattoos are the worst and they will always keep me guessing why someone would do that to themselves and how long it will take them to regret their decision of where they put the tattoo, how may tattoos they have, and what the tattoos are saying about them.

Tattoos are not for everybody, but many people wear them proudly.  In my opinion, people that get tattoos are incredibly naïve, or maybe they are just in total denial, thinking their tattoos are going to make them better looking, or have any kind of positive influence on anyone that they meet.  Many people get tattoos and the reasons are as unique as the individuals who get tattooed.  This can be done for attention, or as a form of self-expression showing a strong sense of identity of what they want and who they are, artistic freedom, rebellion, a visual display of a personal narrative, reminders of spiritual/cultural traditions, to pay a tribute to a lost loved one and get some type of closure, for sexual motivations, as an addiction to pain where it hurts so bad that it feels good, an identification with a group like a gang or being in prison or even something that a soldier would get and most often tattoos are a rash decision obtained as a drunken impulse or when a person is under the influence of drugs.

I could see a person getting a tattoo to cover up scar tissue which would help them improve their appearance and boost their confidence.  Some people hide behind their tattoos and I guess it was Cain who got the first tattoo after he feared that people would try to harm him and God gave him the mark as a warning for his protection.  I have had thoughts about getting a lucky rabbit’s foot, a four leaf clover, a shamrock, or even a horseshoe permanently marked on me to ward off the evil eye, but I always came to my senses.

Written for 11/25/17 Linda G. Hill’s ‘Life in progress’ Stream of Consciousness Saturday where the prompt is ink.